Fall 2012

Minnesota a State University, Mankato

INSIDE:

Page 2

Fall

Mankato West Football............................................ 3 MSU Football........................................................... 4 Gustavus Football.................................................... 5 Mankato Loyola Boys Soccer.................................... 6 Bethany Lutheran Mens Soccer................................ 7 MSU Womens Soccer............................................... 8 Blue Earth Area Volleyball........................................ 8 Fairmont Football..................................................... 9 Mankato Loyola Football........................................ 10 Bethany Lutheran Volleyball................................... 10 Remaining Schedules........................................ 13-20

Mankato East Football........................................... 22 Martin Luther Football........................................... 22 Mankato West Boys Soccer.................................... 23 MSU Volleyball....................................................... 23 Mankato East Volleyball......................................... 24 Mankato Loyola Volleyball...................................... 24 Mankato East Boys Soccer..................................... 25 Martin Luther Volleyball......................................... 25 Gustavus Volleyball................................................ 26 Mankato West Volleyball........................................ 27

photo courtesy of SportPix

2012

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Mankato West quarterback Schlicte has big shoes to fill With all-state quarterback Phillip Nelson off at the University of Minnesota, sophomore Ryan Schlicte is the new answer to the Scarlet offense.

TIGE HUTCHESON

staff writer

After coming so close to another Minnesota State High School Class AAAA Championship in 2011, the Mankato West High School football team enters 2012 with expectations of getting another shot at it.

“We feel like we have a great chance to win the conference,” said head coach Mark Esch. “From there we always have goals to win our section and compete for a state championship.”

After becoming sort of a local high school football dynasty in recent years, the Scarlets are once again faced with one of the biggest challenges any storied program can face: replacing the stars.

“We lost a couple all state players in Hunter Friesen and Philip Nelson,” Esch said. “We lost many key starters, but we have a large group of young players eager to fill in.

With Nelson donning the maroon and gold as a freshman quarterback at the University of Minnesota and Friesen hoping to join him on the field in 2013, the Scarlets will be forced to replace a quarterback-wide receiver combination that is, in a word, irreplaceable.

But the key to any great tradition is moving forward, and Coach Esch certainly doesn’t sound like he’s having much trouble letting go of the past.

“We were 11-1 last year,”

Esch said. “We are always looking to improve.”

With its eye on the prize, Mankato West will look to 6-1, sophomore Ryan Schlichte to fill Nelson’s shoes at starting quarterback.

“Schlichte has looked really good so far and we still have depth at QB,” Esch said.

The Scarlets will welcome back a handful of players from last year’s team that lost to Bemidji in the semifinals of the state tournament. The challenge this season will be passing along the tradition and memory of what it takes to get there along to the next generation of Scarlets. Even though many of the players may have changed, the expectations and culture will still be the same, and in the fiercely competitive Big 9 Conference, the Scarlets will need to grow up in a hurry.

“I expect our kids to work hard, play hard and have fun,” Esch said. “We want to win every game, but we want to have fun doing it. It takes a while to get a team to click, especially a young team. But when it happens the kids, coaches, and fans all have a lot of fun.”

In every fairy tale, people slam the book shut after the conclusion of the tale before sticking around to see what happens after the magic.

Maybe the 2012 Mankato West football team won’t be as memorable as the 2011 team, and maybe the fans that have come to expect so much will

photo courtesy of Sports Pix dismiss anything less than 11-1 as a step in the wrong direction.

But in football, there’s always another game. To build a program worthy of celebrating, you first must pass the

test of time. And while the 2011 Mankato West football team opened the doors to a celebrated football culture, the 2012 team is just as important.

The 2012 Scarlets will be asked to keep the doors from

closing, and to keep the team headed in the right direction.

And if history is any indication, they’re certainly capable of keeping the magic alive.

Best Wishes to all area Fall Sports Teams!

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Page 4

Fall

MSU football ready to repeat as conference champs The Mavericks excelled last season on both sides of the ball on their way to a bowl win, but this season it will take a new skillset for junior quarterback Jon Wolf to get the Mavericks going.

JOEY DENTON

sports writer

The Minnesota State, Mankato football team gears up for another season in 2012 with high hopes of once again attempting to take the NSIC by storm and receive a possible conference championship in the process.

The Mavericks are now under the direction of newly appointed head coach Aaron Keen, who served as the offensive coordinator of the squad last season.

“I think he is doing a great job leading the program,” Minnesota State’s athletic director Kevin Buisman said, who has

been to a few of the team’s practices this past week, and he noticed the team is definitely ready to move on.

But Buisman and the athletic department aren’t the only ones who are confident in Keen taking over the head coaching job, the players are also on board with him.

Sophomore running back Andy Pfeiffer, who led the team in rushing yards with 1,229 yards, thinks Keen has helped the team move on and get ready for some NSIC football “He has done a great job getting us ready to play and keeping us very focused on our upcoming game,” Pfeiffer said.

Last year was Keen’s first season as MSU’s offensive

coordinator, and he turned the Maverick’s offense in to a running dominant team, rushing for 167.9 yards per game and 25 rushing touchdowns last season.

Before coaching for MSU, Keen was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and receivers coach for the University of Omaha-Nebraska. In his three seasons, Keen’s offense scored at least 30 points in 19 games.

Along with a new head coach, the Mavericks were appointed a new leader of Keen’s offense this season. With quarterback Jon Daniels graduating last year, junior quarterback Jon Wolf will be taking control of the offense.

Wolf spent last season mix-

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ing up positions as he lined up as a quarterback, running back and receiver. As he threw for 45 yards, he also ran the ball 69 times for 348 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Throughout this last spring and fall camp, Keen got a chance to see Wolf, and he saw a lot of improvement.

“He had a tremendous spring and we are hoping he would carry things through the summer and continue to develop continuity and chemistry with his receiving core,” Keen said.

With only 45 passing yards on 16 throwing attempts last season, Wolf will still get that rookie feeling this season taking all of the snaps, and Keen is excited to see how he develops.

“He’s gotten better through fall camp. I’m excited to see what he can do against somebody who’s wearing a different colored jersey,” Keen said.

After sharing a conference championship and winning a bowl game last season, the team has a lot of optimism, especially due to the fact that the team only graduated seven seniors.

“We are tremendously excited about the potential for this team, and we are excited to get out there and showcase their abilities and hope for a great deal of support this year from the university community,” Keen said.

Defensively, most of the starters are coming back and they displayed how destructive they are defending the pass.

Last season, the defense was third in the NSIC in pass yards

allowed per game with 169.7 yards per game.

“We have a lot of guys coming back defensively. Coach Klanderman does a great job with our defense and getting those guys to play with high emotion, high intensity and passion for the game of football,” Keen said.

The Mavericks currently sit at 3-0 on the season and have looked quite impressive through the first part of their season defeating Minot State in the season opener before defeating Bemidji State 38-10 in the home opener at Blakeslee Stadium.

MSU then headed to St. Cloud to take on the Huskies in one of the biggest rivalries in the NSIC. The teams fought for the coveted traveling training kit which was finally brought back to MSU after the Mavericks defeated St. Cloud State by a score of 25-21.

The game came down to the wire where MSU took the lead with under three minutes to play when quarterback Mitch Brozovich found Keyvan Rudd in the endzone for an eight yard touchdown that would put MSU ahead for the final score.

The Huskies had one more shot for a victory in the final minutes of the game but MSU's defense would prevail to bring the trophy home.

MSU will next be in action Saturday Sept. 22 as they take on MSU-Moorhead at Blakeslee Stadium at 1 p.m.

2012

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Transitioning back to where it started

Gustavus Adolphus quarterback Muresuk Mana had no problem switching to receiver when he entered his freshman year, now the Gusties have him back at quarterback as a mobile threat in the MIAC.

photo courtesy of Sports Pix RYAN LUND

staff writer

Traditional football fans might not think of rushing yards and mobility as key components to a successful quarterback, but Gustavus Adolphus head foot-

ball coach Pete Haugen knows the value of an athletic signalcaller.

Luckily for coach Haugen, former wide receiver Muresuk Mena is quickly making a name for himself as a mobile quarterback.

The Inver Grove Heights native started his transition to quarterback last spring, following three years at receiver during which he logged 104 receptions for 774 yards and 4 touchdowns, while adding 57 yards on the ground and a rush-

ing touchdown.

Mena played quarterback at Simley High School, before Haugen decided that his talents were best served downfield at Gustavus.

Now, three years later Mena is suiting up under center once again, ready to fill the void left by departing senior and 2011 team MVP Logan Becker.

Becker graduated with more than a few milestones to his name, recording the second highest career completion percentage in school history (58.8), while finishing his career at 10th on the Gusties all-time passing list.

Mena however, has already surpassed Becker’s career calling plays in one key area; winning a season opener.

The Gusties downed the Simpson College Storm 35-26 at Buxton Stadium in Indianola, Iowa, winning its first season opener in Haugen’s four-year tenure.

“It’s been a good first week,” Haugen said following the win.

“That certainly was a confidence builder for our program.”

Mena put on a show in his first outing under center, finishing 8-for-14 and logging 155 yards through the air for tw0 touchdowns, with his biggest gain coming on a 64-yard screen pass to running back Jeffrey Dubose.

His footwork was on display as well, as Mena rushed for 73 yards including a 35-yard touchdown scamper on fourth-andtwo that gave the Gusties a 7-3

lead to end the first quarter.

Gustavus stepped up on the other side of the ball as well, when defensive lineman Nolan Wester found Simpson quarterback Taylor Nelson in the endzone, forcing a fumble that teammate Donte Green quickly recovered for a touchdown.

Gustie cornerback Torey Aseo added to Nelson’s woes on Simpson’s next possession, picking off the junior quarterback on a tipped pass, before burning the Storm offense for a 55-yard touchdown.

The Gusties would finish the day 1-0 for the first time since 2008, continuing two weeks of utter dominance for the MIAC during which the conference has gone a collective 13-0 against nonconference opponents.

With the MIAC off to such a dominant start this Gustie squad will need to be as flawless as it was against Simpson if the team hopes to improve upon its 7th place finish in 2011.

Gustavus was 6-2 a year ago, with wins against Hamline and Carleton, the only two teams to finish beneath the Gusties last season.

Still, after such a promising start it’s hard to think that the team won’t be able to improve on last years disappointing finish. Haugen however isn’t willing to let last weeks win go to his head.

“I think it’s way to early to know that,” he said. “We’re just focused on trying to improve

Gustavus football / page 11

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Page 6

Fall

Getting back to basics

The Mankato Loyola men's soccer team and new head coach have a lot of work to do to get back to the fundamentals of success.

JOEY DENTON

staff writer

photo courtesy of Sports Pix

Mankato Loyola High School didn’t even know they were going to have a boys’ soccer team until just a few days before the season started, but with enough numbers they decided to have a team and called up Jeff McCabe for the head coaching job.

After losing ten seniors from their 2011 season, the squad is very young and they have had a rough road so far this season.

The Crusaders started their 2012 season hosting Waseca in their home opener and lost 3-1. For their next game, they traveled up to New Prague and lost 1-0 before having a rough night with Fairmont as they lost 11-0. They didn’t lose to Glencoe-Silver Lake however, as the teams tied 2-2.

“Because we are so young, we have a lot of building for the future to do,” Coach McCabe said.

According to McCabe, this year’s squad has a strong goalkeeper in sophomore Malik Baxter.

The Crusaders aren’t all

new. The squad did get some returning players back, but it hasn’t been enough.

“The returning and the older players are solid, but we don’t have a lot of depth,” McCabe said.

Coach McCabe received a gift, getting some returning players who are good, but he is focusing on building a supporting staff.

“We have a pretty strong core of guys in our sophomores and juniors, but it’s just a matter of filling in around them,” McCabe said.

When they were referred to as a young team earlier, that wasn’t an exaggeration. First off, there isn’t one senior on this year’s squad. The team is made up of five juniors, two sophomores, five freshman, six eighth graders and a seventh grader. Also, the team was granted some foreign exchange students who are allowed to play for the Crusaders for one season.

Also, this season the Crusaders are trying to deal without having Lance Gaspar.

For those who don’t remember or not from around the Mankato Area, Gaspar broke

the single game goal record by putting in a ridiculous eight goals in a 9-0 victory against New Prague.

In their 2-2 tie over Glencoe-Silver Lake, coach McCabe saw some really good things, and believes that it was a momentum shift for his players.

“We had a pretty solid game, and so I think that got them fired up to move forward,” McCabe said.

The Crusaders get to have what athlete’s dream of having… a second chance. They head to Waseca to take on the Blue Jays again, and with their momentum of better play they are excited to see them again.

“It was actually a pretty close game, and so I think they are looking forward to playing Waseca again,” McCabe said.

To sum up the rest of the season, they take on Immanuel Lutheran on Sept. 25.

Then the Crusaders finish off their regular season heading to Hutchinson on Sept.

27 to take on the Tigers then before hosting Worthington at Loyola High School on Oct. 2.

2012

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Bethany rests season's hopes on two leaders After an abysmal 2011, the Bethany Lutheran College men's soccer team will rely heavily on two of the few upperclassmen on the squad.

ADAM KRIESEL

staff writer

There are a lot of unknowns heading into the 2012 season for the Bethany men’s soccer team. Following a 5-12-1 campaign a year ago, the team welcomes 17 new faces to an inexperienced squad. This team will rely heavily on their two leaders, defender Johnny Luna and central midfielder C.K. Pok. “Johnny is the reigning conference Rookie of the Year, so we’re looking for him to lead our young defense,” head coach Rob Pipal said.

Luna will serve as an anchor to the defense, often playing the farthest back and giving commands to the rest of the defense.

Most of the holes from last year’s team needing to be filled are along the defensive unit.

According to Pipal, this is the team’s biggest question mark, and various formations will be put in place in order to support the back line. The team’s most common formation includes four defenders, with five midfielders and one forward.

The extra body in the midfield provides help for the defense as well as a passing option for a quick counter-attack.

This also clogs the middle of the field when the opponent is on the attack, making it harder for them to maneuver and progress down field.

“Our objective is to the clog the middle when they have the ball, and quickly get it outside for a counter once we gain possession,” Pipal said.

One of the main strengths of this team is the overall speed, especially on the outside. Successfully spreading the field during the attack will utilize this asset, and also wear down the defense.

“This team is built around speed,” Pipal said. “Our attack starts with a quick counter, and that means getting the ball out to the wings so they can run in space and wear the other team down.”

So far this season, Bethany’s strategy has produced mixed results. Through four games, the team is 1-3 and being outscored by a 10-6 margin. The defense

has shown potential by shutting out Finlandia 5-0, but has also been inconsistent, losing to Carleton by the same score in their very next game.

Pipal expects this team to contend for a conference title, but a lot of talented squads are also in the mix. St. Scholastica is a consistent threat to the rest of the conference and Minnesota Morris is looking to build off last year’s conference title and national tournament appearance.

With 17 new faces on the team, depth should not be an issue. Being able to sub in fresh legs frequently should also play a role in wearing the opponent down. Also, despite playing with just one forward, Pipal doesn’t see scoring production as an issue this season.

“We have a lot of new faces this year, and a couple very talented recruits up front,” Pipal said. “Although we typically play with one forward, we have a lot of goal scorers and I expect production out of all of them.”

photo courtesy of Sports Pix

Page 8

Fall

High expectations fuel Mavericks After complete success and domination in 2011, head coach Peter McGahey and the MSU women’s soccer team will not settle for “just getting there” in 2012.

RYAN LUND

staff writer

The “Hall of Champions” that greets athletes and fans as they enter the Taylor Center was redone last year, with new items added to the display commemorating the school’s academic and athletic history.

Thanks to the Minnesota State University, Mankato Women’s Soccer Team, the record books will need to be redone as well.

Among the marks that fell in 2011 were the school record for goals allowed (11), goals against average (0.46), shutouts in a season (14), and consecutive shutouts (9).

The Mavericks also went on to record the longest unbeaten streak in school history at 14 games, before tying the school record for wins in a season with 17.

Those records translated into a 2011 NSIC Tournament Championship, along with a win over Metro State in the NCAA tournament, and if head coach Peter McGahey has anything to say about it, they’ll translate that into even more success in 2012.

“Our goals and expectations are as high as ever,” McGahey said following a recent practice.

“We’re looking forward to a successful season.”

Of last years top 10 scorers the Mavericks will return nine this season, including reigning NSIC Offensive Player of the Year Brittany Henry, who led the team with 34 points last season.

Henry leads a senior class that includes captain and 2011 All-NSIC second team honoree Cassie Weik, as well as fellow all-conference midfielder Brianne West, and all-conference defender Lauren Somers.

Sophomore goalkeeper Molly McGough returns in goal after a sensational freshman season that included twelve solo shutouts,

as well as a share of the team’s record-breaking 14 shutout mark.

Expectations are one thing and MSU has gone a long way towards proving them so far, allowing just two goals in three preseason contests, before downing unranked Truman State 2-1.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in just the 17th minute, when junior forward Trisha Shoemaker’s header found the back of the net.

Junior midfielder Tori Meinhardt tied the game just five minutes later, beating Truman goalkeeper Emily Bozdeck for the Mavericks’ first goal of the season.

The two teams remained deadlocked until the 78th minute, when Brianne West scored the game winning goal, on an assist from sophomore forward Jessica Bowe.

From there the Mavericks traveled to Warrensburg, Mo. to take on the Central Missouri Jennies.

The Jennies, however, managed to down MSU 2-1 despite freshman Korey Kronforst’s first career goal.

Central Missouri senior Aaryn Burke gave her team the lead in the 50th minute on a breakaway goal, before Kronforst’s goal tied the game in the 77th minute.

The Jennies retook the lead for good a few minutes later, as Jennies’ senior Kayla Shain redirected a crossing pass into the net.

The 1-1 mark was good enough to earn the Mavericks a nod from the NCAA Division II NSCAA poll.

MSU cracked the top 25 after going unranked in the preseason poll, ranked number 24.

The Mavericks will have a chance to improve that ranking Thursday, opening their NSIC schedule at home against Concordia-St. Paul.

MSU has historically been

dominant against Concordia, with an all-time record of 8-0, scoring a combined 37 goals against the Golden Bears.

The Mavericks will follow Concordia with another home match-up against the no. 2 ranked Grand Valley State Lakers.

The Lakers enter the season with even weightier expectations than the Mavericks after falling to The College of Saint Rose in last years national championship game.

GVSU is 2-0 on the season after hosting the Grand Valley State Kickoff Tournament, having outshot Armstrong Atlantic and Indianapolis a combined 22-4.

Grand Valley may have had their offensive guns on display last weekend, but MSU has been no slouch either. The Mavericks have outshot their opponents a combined 28-16 through two games this season.

Top dog of the SCC looking to stay on top for another year RYAN LUND

staff writer

Experience wasn’t hard to come by last season for the Blue Earth Area High School volleyball team.

The Buccaneers ran the board in the South Central Conference in 2011, finishing 9-1.

Success in 2012, however, is far from certain.

The Buccaneers return just three players from the dominant 2011 squad, as seniors Krista Hassing and Janessa Jahnke, who brought home all-conference honors in 2011, join fellow senior Ashton Hendrickson

to make up the team’s limited varsity experience.

Hassing and Jahnke will provide stability at the middle position, while Hendrickson provides some much needed security on defense.

Head coach Donna Nawrocki however is confident in playing her team in various combinations.

It’s hard to argue with their results; the trio has led the Buccaneers to an impressive 8-1-1 start. The team has dropped just six sets on the season.

That said those six sets include a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of no. 3 ranked LeSuer-

Henderson in which the team recorded just 38 total points.

Still the team hopes to contend for a trip to Gustavus Adolphus College for the subsection tournament.

Their most recent victory came on September 13th, as the Buccaneers downed New Ulm High School 3-0.

Jahnke led Blue Earth Area’s high-powered offense, registering 13 kills and 12 digs en-route to 25-10, 26-24, 25-23 wins.

Hassing added 12 digs of her own, while fellow senior Monica Krieger was nearly perfect from

SCC volleyball / page 11

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2012

Page 9

Cardinals look to take conference once again Fairmont has taken the South Central Conference football crown the last four years, but Blue Earth is hungry and still not alright with last season's second place finish.

TIM FAKLIS

staff writer

If you’re a sports fan, odds are you like close games. If you like close games, then races for first place in the standings should be right up your alley as well.

The South Central conference set of football teams brought that this season, most notably four-time defending conference champion Fairmont and Blue Earth Area High Schools, who played it neck-and-neck for virtually the entire 2011 campaign.

Fairmont went away with the conference title, but Blue Earth didn’t go away without a fight, making their 15-13 loss to the Fairmont Cardinals their only conference loss in a very competitive season a year ago.

These squads are joined by Waseca, St. Peter and New Ulm who all tied for third for the conference title, finishing at 2-3.

It was a lowly year for the St James Area High School Saints, who finished at a 0-5 mark in the SCC, and 0-9 overall for the entire season.

Despite a noticeable difference between the top two teams and the rest of the conference record-wise, Fairmont head coach Matt Mahoney understands the level of competition the conference as a whole can reach.

“Overall, we had a great conference and the competition is getting better and better,” Ma-

honey said, who also had some predictions for this upcoming season. “This year is going to be very exciting in the SCC. I think the conference is going to be very strong this year. I see Fairmont, Blue Earth and Waseca making a run for the title. I also think St. Peter is much improved and will be a strong contender.”

A season that included a potential four-team title race is something that a sports fan of every level should be able to appreciate.

Some sports fans prefer to follow players more closely than teams. This conference isn’t short of that either. For the defending champion Cardinals, Brandon Martin, a 5-10 running back, rushed for a grand total of 1,354 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns a year ago.

His teammate, wide receiver Bryce Holm tied a prep bowl record with four touchdowns.

Waseca isn’t weak in the running department either. Tailback Brock Kolander rushed for 1,182 yards and 18 total touchdowns a year ago while Blue Earth’s Carter Hanson has started at linebacker since his freshman year and has all the makings to be the conference’s top linebacker.

There are sports fans all over the country, and of those sports fans, there is nobody of that group that doesn’t enjoy a good showdown. The South Central Conference brought nothing less

than that a year ago and according to coach Mahoney, it could very easily happen again.

From two teams in the middle of a tight race to four?

Who could ask for more? It’s about time for high school football season to get in the thick of things and fans of the South Central Conference should be excited. With the level of competition that we should see, the fans shouldn’t come away disappointed.

Competition Heating Up

New Ulm Cathedral took the Southern Minnesota Conference football title last year, but 2012 brings in a new race to the top spot.

ADAM KRIESEL

staff writer

After New Ulm Cathedral ran away with the Southern Minnesota Conference football title by going undefeated in the 2011 regular season, this year’s race looks to be wide open.

The conference had two teams start the season ranked in the state’s top ten, Springfield at number nine and Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s at four. Cathedral, however, will not give up the top spot easily.

Cathedral returns just four starters from last year’s undefeated squad, two on both offense and defense.

Head coach Denny Lux, in his 18th season leading the Greyhounds, is excited about the young talent on this year’s squad.

“Obviously we lost a lot from last year,” Lux said.

“But the coaches and I really like what we’ve seen so far

from last year’s B-squad players.”

Those young players will need to play a big role if Cathedral hopes to repeat the same success as last year.

They will get a shot in their third game to avenge last season’s disappointing playoff loss to Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s, and the winner of this game could gain a huge step in the standings.

Saint Mary’s, last year’s Section 2, Class A champion and state semi-finalist, seems poised for a repeat performance this season. They return a lethal passing attack led by a pair of seniors, quarterback Jordan Anderson and wide receiver Sean Mathiowetz.

Anderson threw for more than 2,200 passing yards and 33 touchdowns in 2011, to go along with more than 1,000 yards on the ground. Ten of his touchdown passes went to Mathiowetz, who also racked up more than 1,000 receiv-

ing yards.

A team returning this much talent will be hard to stop, but head coach Brent Kucera knows it will be no easy task.

He expects this year’s conference race to be as tight as any in recent memory.

“Obviously, Cathedral is going to be tough again this year,” Kucera said. “And Springfield should be up there, too.”

Through two weeks of the season, these three teams already find themselves in good position. Springfield and Saint Mary’s are both 2-0 and still in the top 10 statewide, while Cathedral is 1-1 following a loss to Buffalo Lake-HectorStewart.

The conference title could be determined on Oct. 12 when Saint Mary’s clashes with Springfield in Sleepy Eye. It is the second to last game for both teams who could very easily be undefeated when they meet.

SMC football / page 11

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Page 10

Fall

Loyola football trying to get back to the glory days Third-year starting quarterback Blake Matuska looks to lead the Crusaders and get back to their mid-2000's form.

ADAM KRIESEL

staff writer

The Mankato Loyola football team is looking to bounce back after compiling a disappointing 3-6 record in 2011. Leading the way in this rebound attempt is senior quarterback Blake Matuska.

Matuska is starting under center for the third straight year and is looking for better results than the two wins in 2010 and three last year. He will be relying on those past experiences to help him grow in his final season for the Crusaders.

“It was a good experience,” Matuska said when talking about the 2010 season, via Chad Courrier of the Mankato Free Press. “We were taught a lot of football lessons and life lessons.

It was a good learning experience for us.”

Unfortunately, Matuska and the Crusaders are having similar experiences so far in 2012. The Crusaders are 0-3, with losses to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, St. Paul Harding and Minnesota Valley Lutheran. Despite being outscored by a 111-25 margin, Loyola played tough against a much bigger Harding team but ultimately fell by one, 20-19.

“I felt we played a good football game against Harding, but just didn’t get the result we wanted,” sophomore nose guard Charlie Lena said. “We can definitely win some games if we play the same way the rest of the season.”

photo courtesy of Sports Pix The Crusaders will need their best performance down the stretch if they want to get the results they’re looking for.

Their schedule doesn’t get much easier from here, beginning with 3-0 Bethlehem Academy on Sept. 22. The last two games of the season could be the toughest for Loyola, when they face undefeated St. Clair and Lester Prairie/ Holy Trinity, the number four ranked team in class A. Having just eight seniors on the roster, this season could be looked at as a growing year for Loyola. With 27 underclassmen,

this exposure to varsity football should serve them well down the road when it is their time to lead the charge.

At this stage, it is important to see improvement from week to week. It will be tough to suddenly flip a switch and put together a winning streak, so final scores may not tell the entire story for this team.

Steady improvement, however, can set them up for the same success this team experienced back in 2007-08, when they went 18-4 in a two-year stretch.

Bethany welcomes youth infusion as it gears up for 2012 Without one single upper classmen on the team, the Bethany Lutheran College volleyball team will be looking to the youngsters to try and climb the ladder in the UMAC. TIM FAKLIS

staff writer

If there were one word that describes this year’s Bethany Volleyball squad this season, that word would be young.

A team with no seniors, or even any juniors coming into the 2012 season, this season is set to be a different one than most seasons for any coach, especially one with a will to win like Vikings’ head coach Sue Forrey. Forrey, heading into her third season as head coach of the Vikings, just wants to see as good of an effort as a coach can see out of her players this year.

“Work hard all the time, we will out work or opponent.

Continue to push forward and look for the number one position in our conference.”

Forrey and her team didn’t have the kind of 2011 they were hoping for, finishing at a 10-19 mark. The one thing she could hold onto without any hesitation was the defense of a year ago.

“The first thing I think about is our defense. We were strong in serve receive,” Forrey said. On the flipside, there is a definite need for improvement if this young group of athletes wants to make a push for the conference crown over the next year or two, their finishing is one aspect of the game coach Forrey sees as most vital for their immediate, as well as their long-term success on the court.

“We stay or are ahead in

most matches, but around the 15th point we struggle,” Coach Forrey said. “We have a strong offense this season and we are running new plays so we will continue to focus on that.”

As mentioned earlier, this is an extremely young team.

When teams are that young, at times, finding a group of leaders, as well as an identity can be challenging. The Bethany Vikings may look to the likes of sophomores Shelby Wiederhoeft and Jessi Jurries for just that.

Wiederhoeft finished second on her team a year ago with 209 kills and showed plenty of promise coming into this year.

Jurries showed promise in her own right as well, including a

Bethany volleyball / page 11

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2012

Page 11

SCC volleyball continued from 8 the service line, going 15for-16 with one ace.

Senior Whitney Pirsig was just as strong on serve, finishing 14-for-16 with four aces.

However with eight matches to go, along with two group events, the Buccaneers have plenty of time to work out the kinks.

If they continue playing at this level however, there might not be many to work out.

For Blue Earth to take the conference again this year it will be a tough road against a few foes in the conference.

The lady Bucs’ are currently tied for the conference lead with Fairmont at 3-0 and

Bethany volleyball continued from 10 finish of the 2011 campaign with 10 services aces, as well as an impressive 94 spikes for the freshman of a year ago.

This year’s Vikings squad may not be the most experienced, and will more likely than not experience some fairly grueling growing pains along the way. But from what history

will have to play the Cardinals twice before crowing a conference champion. Fairmont has looked tough early on in the season by taking down Waseca and St. James in their last two matches.

That came after struggling early on in the season when the Cardinals fell to power-

house and top-ranked Marshall in three sets. St. Peter and New Ulm are also right in the thick of things holding down the three and four spots in conference play and both could put up a fight with the undefeated squads later in the year.

St. James and Waseca

round out the bottom third of the conference as both are still looking for the first conference victories. Any type of victory would be good enough for the St. James Saints as they have dropped their last seven after winning their first match of the season against Luverne.

Gustavus football continued from 5

shows, teams that start out young, just like these Vikings, tend to find success down the road.

Whether it’s quickly, or takes some time, usually teams that grow together inevitably win together. Whether that is the case for this team relies on the assumption that one or two

current players will attempt to take the reins, and lead this team.

The other is that this young group of student athletes buy into what coach Forrey is teaching them. There are plenty of ‘what ifs’ for this year, but with young teams such as this one, there usually are.

each week.”

Haugen might not be counting wins just yet, but his shakeup at quarterback could prove to be one of the most important coaching decisions of his young career.

Murasek Mena however, has just one crucial decision to make; pass or run, and at this rate it might not matter which he chooses.

SMC football

continued from 9

The rest of the conference cannot be counted out yet, however. Wabasso and Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart put together strong seasons in 2011, and could make noise again this year.

Red Rock Central has already played, and lost, to Springfield and Saint Mary’s.

Those early tests should prepare them nicely for the rest of the season and could be in the thick of it when it is all said and done. Sleepy Eye and Cedar Mountain/Comfrey, meanwhile, are looking to improve from last year’s disappointing outcome.

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Page 12

Fall

2012

Page 13

AREA HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER • REMAINING SCHEDULES Lake Crystal/Wellcome-Memorial Mankato Loyola Waseca Date Time Opponent Site 9/22/12 1:00 PM NU Public/St Mary's/MVL New Ulm 9/25/12 5:00 PM Worthington Mankato Loyola 9/27/12 7:00 PM Waseca Bluejays Waseca 9/29/12 3:00 PM PineIsland/Zumb-Mazepp Mankato Loyola 10/2/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter Saint Peter

Date Time Opponent Site 9/22/12 1:00 PM NU Public/St Mary's/MVL New Ulm 9/25/12 5:00 PM Worthington Mankato Loyola 9/27/12 7:00 PM Waseca Bluejays Waseca 9/29/12 3:00 PM PineIsland/Zumb-Mazepp Mankato Loyola 10/2/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter Saint Peter

Mankato East Mankato West Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:00 PM Rochester Mayo Rochester Mayo 9/22/12 1:00 PM Mankato West Dakota Meadows 9/25/12 5:00 PM Owatonna Mankato East 10/1/12 4:30 PM NU Public/St Mary's/MVL Mankato East 10/2/12 5:00 PM Faribault Faribault Bahl Field 10/4/12 4:30 PM Rochester Century Mankato East

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:00 PM Albert Lea Albert Lea Hammer Complex 9/22/12 1:00 PM Mankato East Dakota Meadows 9/25/12 5:00 PM Rochester Mayo Dakota Meadows 9/27/12 6:45 PM Worthington Worthington 9/29/12 1:00 PM Willmar Dakota Meadows 10/2/12 5:00 PM Owatonna Dakota Meadows 10/4/12 5:00 PM Faribault Dakota Meadows

New Ulm Public / New Ulm Cathedral / Minnesota Valley Lutheran Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 5:00 PM Saint Peter Martin Luther Coll.

9/22/12 1:00 PM Mankato Loyola/LCWM/St. Clair New Ulm 9/24/12 7:00 PM Hutchinson Hutchinson 9/25/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter Saint Peter 9/27/12 5:00 PM Fairmont Area Fairmont Soccer Complex 10/1/12 4:30 PM Mankato East Mankato East

Saint Peter

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 5:00 PM NU Public/St Mary's/MVL Martin Luther Coll.

9/22/12 11:00 AM Caledonia Dover-Eyota 9/22/12 1:45 PM Dover-Eyota Dover-Eyota 9/25/12 7:00 PM NU Public/St Mary's/MVL Saint Peter 9/27/12 7:00 PM Waseca Bluejays Saint Peter 10/2/12 7:00 PM Mankato Loyola/LCWM/St. Clair Saint Peter 10/4/12 7:00 PM Fairmont Area Fairmont Soccer Complex

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:00 PM Fairmont Fairmont 9/27/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter Saint Peter 9/27/12 7:00 PM Mankato Loyola/LCWM/St. Clair Waseca 10/2/12 6:15 PM Worthington Worthington 10/3/12 7:00 PM New Ulm New Ulm

Page 14

Fall

AREA HIGH GIRLS SCHOOL SOCCER FOOTBALL • REMAINING • REMAINING SCHEDULES SCHEDULES Blue Earth Area

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM New Ulm AWAY 9/21/12 7:00 PM New Ulm AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Waseca HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Fairmont AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Saint James Area HOME

Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton

Mankato Loyola

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial

Mankato West

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Madelia HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Renville County West AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Nicollet HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Alden-Conger HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM GHEC/Truman AWAY

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM New Richland-H-E-G HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Medford AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Medford HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Martin County West AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM G-F-W AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Waterville-Elysian-Morristown HOME

LeSueur-Henderson

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Watertown-Mayer HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Tri-City United HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Jordan AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Belle Plaine HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Sibley East AWAY

Madelia

Cleveland

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Nicollet HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM GHEC/Truman AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Madelia HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Randolph HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Edgerton/Ellsworth AWAY

Fairmont

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Waseca AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Saint James Area AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Blue Earth Area HOME

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Alden-Conger HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Cleveland AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Fulda HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Fulda HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Randolph AWAY

Mankato East

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Austin HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Rochester Century AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Albert Lea HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Winona AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Mankato West MSU Mankato 10/17/12 7:00 PM Mankato West MSU Mankato

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Date Time Opponent Site 9/22/12 6:00 PM Bethlehem Academy AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Blooming Prairie HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM United South Central HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Saint Clair AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity AWAY

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Faribault AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Rochester John Marshall HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Rochester Mayo AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Rochester Century AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Mankato East MSU Mankato

Maple River

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Medford HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Columbia Heights HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM G-F-W HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM New Richland-H-E-G AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Martin County West AWAY

2012

Page 15

AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL • REMAINING SCHEDULES Minnesota Valley Lutheran

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Blooming Prairie AWAY 9/29/12 7:00 PM Bethlehem Academy AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM United South Central AWAY

Mountain Lake Area

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Southwestern United AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Westbrook-Walnut Grove HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Randolph AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Edgerton/Ellsworth HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Fulda AWAY

10/9/12 5:00 PM Spectrum 10/12/12 7:00 PM Mankato Loyola 10/17/12 7:00 PM Bethlehem Academy

HOME HOME HOME

Saint James

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter HOME 9/29/12 1:00 PM New Ulm AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Fairmont High school HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Fairmont HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Waseca HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Blue Earth Area AWAY

New Ulm Cathedral

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM New Ulm Cathedral HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Red Rock Central (5A) AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Springfield AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Cedar Mountain/Comfrey HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Wabasso (5A) HOME

United South Central

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Blue Earth Area HOME 9/21/12 7:00 PM Blue Earth Area HOME 9/29/12 1:00 PM Saint James Area HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Waseca AWAY 10/12/12 7:30 PM Melrose Area (6AAA) HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Fairmont AWAY

Date Time Opponent Site 9/28/12 7:00 PM Saint Clair HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Mankato Loyola AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Minnesota Valley Lutheran HOME

Waseca

Nicollet

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM United South Central AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Blooming Prairie AWAY

Sleepy Eye Public

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Cedar Mountain/Comfrey HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Cedar Mountain/Comfrey AWAY 10/6/12 4:00 PM Wabasso (5A) AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Springfield HOME

New Ulm Public

Saint Clair

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Belle Plaine AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Watertown-Mayer AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Tri-City United HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Norwood-Young America AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM LeSueur-Henderson HOME

Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Sleepy Eye AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Wabasso (5A) HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Cedar Mountain/Comfrey AWAY 10/12/12 3:30 PM Red Rock Central (5A) HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Blooming Prairie HOME

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Cleveland AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Randolph HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM GHEC/Truman HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Alden-Conger AWAY

Sibley East

Saint Peter

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Saint James Area AWAY 9/28/12 7:00 PM Fairmont AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM Blue Earth Area HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Columbia Heights AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Waseca HOME

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM Fairmont HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM Blue Earth Area AWAY 10/5/12 7:00 PM New Ulm HOME 10/12/12 7:00 PM Saint James Area AWAY 10/17/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter AWAY

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown

Date Time Opponent Site 9/21/12 7:00 PM G-F-W HOME 9/28/12 7:00 PM New Richland-H-E-G HOME 10/5/12 7:00 PM Medford AWAY 10/12/12 7:00 PM Martin County West HOME 10/17/12 7:00 PM Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial AWAY

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Page 16

Fall

AREA HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL • REMAINING SCHEDULES Blue Earth

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Waseca AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter HOME 9/27/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area AWAY 9/29/12 9:00 AM BEA Invite HOME 10/1/12 7:30 PM Jackson County Central AWAY 10/4/12 7:30 PM New Ulm AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Fairmont HOME 10/16/12 7:30 PM Waseca HOME 10/19/12 5:00 PM Rochester Century Invite AWAY 10/20/12 9:00 AM Rochester Century Invite AWAY 10/22/12 7:30 PM Windom Area AWAY

Fairmont

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter AWAY 9/24/12 7:15 PM Jackson County Central HOME 9/27/12 7:30 PM New Ulm AWAY 10/2/12 7:30 PM Waseca HOME 10/8/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area AWAY 10/11/12 7:30 PM Worthington AWAY 10/13/12 8:00 AM Pipestone Area Tourney AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter HOME

Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM Bethlehem Academy HOME 9/24/12 7:00 PM Cleveland AWAY 9/25/12 7:15 PM Waterville-Elysian-Morristown AWAY 10/2/12 7:15 PM New Richland-H-E-G HOME 10/4/12 7:15 PM United South Central AWAY 10/8/12 7:30 PM Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley AWAY 10/9/12 7:15 PM Cleveland HOME 10/11/12 7:15 PM Blooming Prairie AWAY 10/15/12 7:30 PM Nicollet AWAY

Madelia

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Truman HOME 9/24/12 7:30 PM New Ulm Cathedral AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial HOME 9/27/12 7:30 PM Maple River HOME 9/29/12 9:00 AM St. James Invitational AWAY 10/2/12 7:30 PM Nicollet AWAY 10/4/12 7:30 PM Mankato Loyola AWAY 10/6/12 9:00 AM St. Clair Invitational AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley HOME 10/11/12 7:30 PM Truman AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM Cleveland AWAY

Mankato East

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM Albert Lea HOME 9/25/12 7:30 PM New Prague AWAY 9/27/12 7:15 PM Rochester Mayo AWAY 10/1/12 7:30 PM Le Sueur-Henderson AWAY 10/9/12 7:15 PM Mankato West HOME 10/11/12 7:15 PM Owatonna HOME 10/16/12 7:15 PM Rochester Century HOME

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial

Cleveland

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Saint Clair HOME 9/24/12 7:00 PM Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton HOME 9/25/12 7:30 PM Martin County West AWAY 9/27/12 7:30 PM Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley HOME 9/29/12 TBD Maple River C Tourn.

AWAY 10/1/12 7:15 PM Medford HOME 10/2/12 7:15 PM Mankato Loyola AWAY 10/4/12 7:30 PM Alden-Conger AWAY 10/6/12 TBD Nicollet Tourn.

AWAY 10/8/12 7:15 PM Mankato Loyola HOME 10/9/12 7:15 PM Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM Madelia HOME

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Martin County West HOME 9/22/12 8:00 AM Sibley East Tourney AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Madelia AWAY 9/27/12 7:15 PM Mankato Loyola HOME 9/29/12 8:00 AM Saint James Tourney AWAY 10/2/12 7:30 PM Maple River AWAY 10/4/12 7:30 PM Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Alden-Conger HOME 10/11/12 7:30 PM Mankato West HOME 10/16/12 7:30 PM Truman AWAY

Le Sueur-Henderson

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM Mayer Lutheran HOME 9/25/12 7:00 PM Hutchinson AWAY 9/27/12 7:15 PM Watertown-Mayer AWAY 10/1/12 7:30 PM Mankato East HOME 10/4/12 7:15 PM Belle Plaine / Holy Family Acad.

AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter HOME 10/11/12 7:15 PM Norwood-Young America HOME 10/16/12 7:15 PM Tri-City United AWAY 10/20/12 9:00 AM Chaska Tourney AWAY

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Page 17

AREA HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL • REMAINING SCHEDULES Mankato Loyola

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley AWAY 9/22/12 10:00 AM Truman Tourney AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Truman AWAY 9/27/12 7:15 PM Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial AWAY 10/1/12 7:15 PM Sleepy Eye AWAY 10/2/12 7:15 PM Cleveland HOME 10/4/12 7:30 PM Madelia HOME 10/6/12 9:00 AM St. Clair Tourney AWAY 10/8/12 7:15 PM Cleveland AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Martin County West AWAY 10/11/12 7:15 PM Nicollet HOME 10/16/12 7:15 PM Maple River HOME

Mountain Lake

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM Southwest United Wildcats HOME 9/25/12 5:00 PM Murray County Central AWAY 9/27/12 5:00 PM Hills-Beaver Creek AWAY 10/1/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area HOME 10/2/12 5:00 PM Ellsworth HOME 10/6/12 9:00 AM Saint Clair AWAY 10/9/12 5:00 PM Westbrook-Walnut Grove AWAY 10/11/12 5:00 PM Edgerton AWAY 10/15/12 5:00 PM Red Rock Central HOME

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM Austin HOME 9/25/12 7:15 PM Rochester Century AWAY 9/27/12 7:15 PM Albert Lea AWAY 10/2/12 7:15 PM Chaska HOME 10/4/12 7:15 PM Rochester Mayo HOME 10/9/12 7:15 PM Mankato East AWAY 10/11/12 7:30 PM Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial AWAY 10/13/12 9:00 AM Faribault Invite AWAY

Maple River

Minnesota Valley Lutheran

Date Time Opponent Site 9/27/12 4:45 PM Wabasso HOME 10/2/12 7:00 PM Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's HOME 10/4/12 7:00 PM G-F-W AWAY 10/9/12 7:00 PM New Ulm Cathedral HOME 10/16/12 7:00 PM New Ulm Cathedral AWAY

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area HOME 9/22/12 9:00 AM Sibley East Tourney AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Waseca AWAY 9/27/12 7:30 PM Fairmont HOME 10/1/12 7:15 PM Marshall HOME 10/4/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area HOME 10/9/12 7:15 PM Jackson County Central AWAY 10/11/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area AWAY 10/18/12 9:00 AM Sartell Tourney AWAY

Nicollet

Date Time Opponent Site 9/22/12 9:00 AM Sibley East AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Alden-Conger HOME 9/27/12 7:30 PM Martin County West AWAY 10/1/12 7:30 PM New Ulm Cathedral HOME 10/2/12 7:30 PM Madelia HOME 10/4/12 7:30 PM Saint Clair HOME 10/6/12 9:00 AM Sleepy Eye HOME 10/9/12 7:30 PM Truman AWAY 10/11/12 7:15 PM Mankato Loyola AWAY 10/15/12 7:30 PM Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton HOME 10/16/12 7:30 PM Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley AWAY

Mankato West

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area AWAY 9/22/12 9:00 AM Sibley East Tourney AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Waseca AWAY 9/27/12 7:30 PM Fairmont AWAY 10/1/12 7:15 PM Marshall AWAY 10/4/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area AWAY 10/9/12 7:15 PM Jackson County Central AWAY 10/11/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area AWAY 10/18/12 9:00 AM Sartell Tourney AWAY

New Ulm Public

Saint Clair

New Ulm Cathedral

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:00 PM G-F-W HOME 9/24/12 7:30 PM Madelia HOME 9/25/12 7:00 PM BuffaloLake-Hector-Stewart AWAY 10/1/12 7:30 PM Nicollet AWAY 10/2/12 7:00 PM Sleepy Eye HOME 10/8/12 7:00 PM Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's HOME 10/9/12 7:00 PM Minnesota Valley Lutheran AWAY 10/11/12 7:00 PM Cedar Mountain/Comfrey AWAY 10/15/12 7:00 PM Sleepy Eye AWAY 10/16/12 7:00 PM Minnesota Valley Lutheran HOME

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Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Fairmont AWAY 9/25/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area AWAY 9/27/12 7:30 PM Waseca AWAY 10/2/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Le Sueur-Henderson AWAY 10/11/12 7:30 PM New Ulm AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM Fairmont AWAY 10/22/12 7:30 PM Waterville-Elysian-Morristown AWAY

Page 18

Fall

AREA HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL • REMAINING SCHEDULES Saint James

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM New Ulm AWAY 9/27/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area HOME 9/29/12 9:00 AM St. James Invitational HOME 9/29/12 9:00 AM Maple River HOME 9/29/12 9:00 AM Maple River HOME 9/29/12 9:00 AM Maple River HOME 10/1/12 7:30 PM Mt.Lake Area AWAY 10/2/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter HOME 10/5/12 TBD Subway Tourney Southwest State University 10/6/12 TBD Subway Tourney Southwest State University 10/8/12 7:30 PM Fairmont High school HOME 10/8/12 7:30 PM Fairmont HOME 10/9/12 7:30 PM Waseca AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM New Ulm AWAY

Sibley East

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM Belle Plaine / Holy Family Acad.

HOME 9/22/12 8:00 AM Sibley East Invite HOME 9/22/12 9:00 AM Nicollet HOME 9/24/12 7:15 PM Glencoe-SilverLake HOME 9/25/12 7:30 PM Mound Westonka AWAY 9/27/12 7:15 PM Norwood-Young America AWAY 9/29/12 9:00 AM Dassel-Cokato Charger Challenge AWAY 10/2/12 7:15 PM Tri-City United AWAY 10/4/12 7:15 PM Mayer Lutheran AWAY 10/9/12 6:00 PM Redwood Valley AWAY 10/11/12 7:15 PM Jordan HOME 10/15/12 7:15 PM Watertown-Mayer HOME

Sleepy Eye Public

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:00 PM Cedar Mountain/Comfrey HOME 9/25/12 4:45 PM Wabasso AWAY 9/27/12 7:00 PM Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's AWAY 10/1/12 7:15 PM Mankato Loyola HOME 10/2/12 7:00 PM New Ulm Cathedral AWAY 10/6/12 9:00 AM Nicollet AWAY 10/8/12 7:00 PM Lester Prairie \ HolyTrinity AWAY 10/9/12 7:00 PM G-F-W HOME 10/11/12 7:00 PM BuffaloLake-Hector-Stewart AWAY 10/15/12 7:00 PM New Ulm Cathedral HOME

Sleepy Eye St. Mary's

Saint Peter

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Fairmont HOME 9/25/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area AWAY 9/27/12 7:30 PM Waseca HOME 10/2/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Le Sueur-Henderson AWAY 10/11/12 7:30 PM New Ulm HOME 10/16/12 7:30 PM Fairmont AWAY 10/22/12 7:30 PM Waterville-Elysian-Morristown HOME

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:00 PM BuffaloLake-Hector-Stewart HOME 9/25/12 7:00 PM Springfield AWAY 9/27/12 7:00 PM Sleepy Eye HOME 10/2/12 7:00 PM Minnesota Valley Lutheran AWAY 10/4/12 7:00 PM Wabasso AWAY 10/8/12 7:00 PM New Ulm Cathedral AWAY 10/9/12 7:00 PM Cedar Mountain/Comfrey HOME 10/15/12 7:00 PM Truman HOME 10/16/12 7:00 PM Springfield HOME

United South Central/Wells

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM New Richland-H-E-G AWAY 9/22/12 9:00 AM Truman Tourney AWAY 9/27/12 7:30 PM Alden-Conger HOME 9/29/12 10:00 AM BEA Tourney AWAY 10/2/12 7:15 PM Blooming Prairie AWAY 10/4/12 7:15 PM Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton HOME 10/11/12 7:15 PM Randolph AWAY 10/15/12 7:30 PM Saint Clair AWAY 10/16/12 7:15 PM Waterville-Elysian-Morristown HOME

Waseca

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area HOME 9/25/12 7:30 PM New Ulm HOME 9/27/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter AWAY 10/2/12 7:30 PM Fairmont AWAY 10/8/12 7:30 PM Waterville-Elysian-Morristown AWAY 10/9/12 7:30 PM Saint James Area HOME 10/15/12 7:30 PM Maple River AWAY 10/16/12 7:30 PM Blue Earth Area AWAY

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown

Date Time Opponent Site 9/20/12 7:15 PM Medford HOME 9/25/12 7:15 PM Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton HOME 9/27/12 7:15 PM Randolph AWAY 10/2/12 7:15 PM Bethlehem Academy HOME 10/6/12 TBD Cannon Falls Tourney AWAY 10/8/12 7:30 PM Waseca HOME 10/11/12 7:15 PM New Richland-H-E-G HOME 10/16/12 7:15 PM United South Central AWAY 10/22/12 7:30 PM Saint Peter AWAY

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2012

Page 19

AREA HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER • REMAINING SCHEDULES LAKE CRYSTAL/WELLCOME-MEMORIAL

Date Time Opponent Site 8/24/12 3:30 PM Waseca Mankato Loyola 9/4/12 4:00 PM New Prague New Prague 9/8/12 1:00 PM Fairmont Area Fairmont 9/13/12 5:00 PM Glencoe-Silver Lake Mankato Loyola 9/18/12 5:00 PM Waseca Waseca 9/25/12 5:00 PM Immanuel Lutheran Immanuel Lutheran 9/27/12 6:00 PM Hutchinson Hutchinson 10/2/12 5:00 PM Worthington Mankato Loyola

Mankato East Date Time Opponent Site 8/23/12 4:00 PM New Prague New Prague 8/25/12 7:00 PM Apple Valley Johnny Cake Ridge 8/28/12 5:00 PM Saint Peter Mankato East 8/30/12 5:00 PM Winona Mankato East 9/4/12 5:00 PM Mankato West Mankato East 9/6/12 7:00 PM Rochester J.M. Rochester J.M. 9/11/12 5:00 PM Fairmont Area Mankato East 9/13/12 5:00 PM Austin High School Mankato East 9/15/12 1:00 PM Holy Family Catholic Holy Family Catholic 9/18/12 7:00 PM Albert Lea Albert Lea 9/20/12 5:00 PM Rochester Mayo Mankato East 9/22/12 3:00 PM Mankato West Mankato West 9/25/12 7:00 PM Owatonna Lincoln Soccer Complex 9/25/12 7:00 PM Owatonna Owatonna 9/27/12 5:00 PM Rochester Lourdes Mankato East 10/2/12 4:30 PM Faribault Mankato East 10/4/12 7:00 PM Rochester Century Rochester Century

Mankato Loyola Date Time Opponent Site 8/24/12 3:30 PM Waseca Mankato Loyola 9/4/12 4:00 PM New Prague New Prague 9/8/12 1:00 PM Fairmont Area Fairmont 9/13/12 5:00 PM Glencoe-Silver Lake Mankato Loyola 9/18/12 5:00 PM Waseca Waseca 9/25/12 5:00 PM Immanuel Lutheran Immanuel Lutheran 9/27/12 6:00 PM Hutchinson Hutchinson 10/2/12 5:00 PM Worthington Mankato Loyola

saint peter

mankato West Date Time Opponent Site 8/23/12 5:00 PM Willmar Willmar Kennedy Elementary 8/25/12 5:00 PM Chanhassen Mankato West 8/28/12 4:00 PM S.W. Minn. Christian S.W. Minn. Christian 9/4/12 5:00 PM Mankato East Mankato East 9/6/12 5:00 PM New Prague Mankato West 9/8/12 3:00 PM Rochester Century Mankato West 9/10/12 5:00 PM Worthington Dakota Meadows MS 9/13/12 5:00 PM Rochester J.M. Mankato West 9/15/12 4:00 PM Winona Winona 9/18/12 7:00 PM Austin High School Wescott Sports Complex 9/20/12 5:00 PM Albert Lea Dakota Meadows M.S. 9/22/12 3:00 PM Mankato East Mankato West 9/25/12 7:00 PM Rochester Mayo Rochester Mayo 9/29/12 12:00 PM Saint Peter Saint Peter 10/2/12 7:00 PM Owatonna Lincoln Soccer Complex 10/2/12 7:00 PM Owatonna Owatonna 10/4/12 5:00 PM Faribault Faribault

New Ulm Public / New Ulm Cathedral / Minnesota Valley Lutheran Date 8/24/12 8/24/12 8/30/12 9/4/12 9/6/12 9/11/12 9/13/12 9/18/12 9/20/12 9/24/12 9/24/12 9/27/12 9/29/12 10/2/12 10/4/12

Time 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 1:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 5:00 PM 5:00 PM 6:15 PM 7:00 PM 5:45 PM 5:45 PM 5:00 PM 11:00 AM 5:00 PM 5:00 PM

Opponent S.W. Minn. Christian Glencoe-Silver Lake New Prague Saint Peter Fairmont Area Marshall Waseca Worthington Saint Peter Marshall Marshall Fairmont Area Willmar Glencoe-Silver Lake Waseca

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Date Time Opponent Site 8/25/12 12:45 PM Marshall Marshall 8/25/12 1:00 PM Marshall SMSU 8/25/12 1:00 PM Marshall Marshall 8/28/12 5:00 PM Mankato East Mankato East 8/28/12 5:00 PM Mankato East Mankato East 8/29/12 6:15 PM Worthington Worthington 9/4/12 5:00 PM New Ulm HS New Ulm HS 9/4/12 5:00 PM New Ulm Public / NUACS / MVL New Ulm 9/6/12 7:00 PM Waseca Saint Peter 9/8/12 11:00 AM S.W. Minn. Christian Saint Peter 9/10/12 7:00 PM New Prague Saint Peter 9/11/12 7:00 PM Shakopee Saint Peter 9/13/12 7:00 PM Fairmont Area Fairmont 9/15/12 10:00 AM Faribault Faribault 9/15/12 12:00 PM Faribault Faribault 9/18/12 7:00 PM Marshall Saint Peter 9/20/12 7:00 PM New Ulm HS Saint Peter 9/20/12 7:00 PM New Ulm Public / NUACS / MVL Saint Peter 9/27/12 7:00 PM Waseca Waseca 9/29/12 12:00 PM Mankato West Saint Peter 10/4/12 7:00 PM Fairmont Area Saint Peter 10/6/12 1:00 PM Worthington Saint Peter

Waseca

Date Time Opponent Site 8/24/12 3:30 PM Mankato Loyola/LCWM/St. Clair Loyola 8/27/12 7:30 PM Red Wing Red Wing 8/31/12 7:00 PM Albert Lea Waseca 9/4/12 7:00 PM Fairmont Area Fairmont 9/6/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter Saint Peter 9/11/12 7:00 PM New Prague New Prague 9/13/12 5:00 PM New Ulm Public / NUACS / MVL New Ulm 9/18/12 5:00 PM Mankato Loyola/LCWM/St. Clair Waseca 9/20/12 7:00 PM Fairmont Area Waseca 9/25/12 7:00 PM Mayer Lutheran Mayer Lutheran 9/27/12 7:00 PM Saint Peter Waseca 10/1/12 7:00 PM Stewartville Waseca 10/2/12 7:00 PM Metro United Waseca 10/4/12 5:00 PM New Ulm Public / NUACS / MVL Waseca

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Page 20

Fall

AREA HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY • REMAINING SCHEDULES Blue Earth LeSueur-Henderson/ Date Time Opponent Location NEW COUNTRY SCHOOL 9/20/12 4:30 PM Jackson County Central Jackson County Central 9/22/12 0:00 AM Milaca Milaca 9/27/12 4:30 PM WEM/JWP Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 10/1/12 4:00 PM Saint James Area Saint James 10/4/12 4:30 PM I-90 Invite at Fairmont I-90 Invite at Fairmont 10/9/12 4:00 PM Waseca Waseca 10/11/12 4:00 PM SCC Invite Waseca 10/16/12 4:00 PM BEA Invite Blue Earth 10/25/12 4:00 PM Multiple Teams Blue Earth

CLEVELAND/Mankato Loyola

Date Time Opponent Location 9/22/12 10:00 AM Milaca Milaca 9/25/12 4:00 PM New Prague New Prague 10/4/12 4:30 PM Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 10/11/12 4:00 PM Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther Truman 10/16/12 4:00 PM Martin County West Martin County West 10/25/12 4:00 PM Blue Earth Blue Earth

Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton WATERVILLE-ELYSIAN-MORRISTOWN

Date Time Opponent Location 9/25/12 4:30 PM Blooming Prairie Blooming Prairie 9/27/12 4:30 PM Multiple Teams Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 10/4/12 4:30 PM Waseca Waseca 10/9/12 4:30 PM United South Central United South Central 10/11/12 4:30 PM Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther Truman 10/16/12 4:00 PM Martin County West Martin County West 10/25/12 4:00 PM Blue Earth Blue Earth

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/ NICOLLET

Date Time Opponent Location 9/22/12 10:00 AM Mega Meet Milaca 9/25/12 4:30 PM Saint James Tourney Saint James 10/1/12 4:30 PM Saint James Area Saint James 10/4/12 4:30 PM SEPub/SEStMary/NUCath SE Saint Mary's 10/11/12 4:30 PM Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther Madelia 10/16/12 4:00 PM Valley Conference Martin County West 10/25/12 4:00 PM Section Blue Earth Blue Earth

Date Time Opponent 9/20/12 4:00 PM Glencoe-Silver Lake 9/25/12 4:30 PM New Prague 10/2/12 4:00 PM Giant Invite 10/11/12 3:15 PM MRC Meet

Location Glencoe-Silver Lake New Prague G.C. LeSueur-Henderson Baylor Park

mankato east Date Time Opponent 9/25/12 4:30 PM West Invitational 9/27/12 4:00 PM Buffalo Invitational 9/29/12 4:00 PM Griak Invitational 10/4/12 4:30 PM Fairmont Invitational 10/9/12 3:45 PM East Invitational 10/16/12 3:30 PM Big Nine Confernce Meet

Location Minneopa G.C. Buff. Heights G.C. U of M G.C. Fairmont Minneopa G.C. Owatonna

mankato west Date Time Opponent 9/25/12 4:00 PM West Invite 10/2/12 3:00 PM Victoria Lions Invite 10/4/12 3:30 PM Ev Berg Invite 10/9/12 4:00 PM East Invite 10/16/12 3:30 PM Big 9 Conference Meet

Location Minneopa G.C. Chaska Owatonna Minneopa G.C. Brooketree G.C.

New Ulm Cathedral/SLEEPY EYE PUBLIC/ SLEEPY EYE ST. MARY'S

Date Time Opponent Location 9/22/12 9:00 AM Milaca Milaca 9/25/12 4:30 PM Saint James Area Saint James 9/27/12 4:00 PM Redwood Valley Redwood Valley 9/27/12 4:30 PM Redwood Valley Redwood Valley 10/4/12 4:00 PM Multiple Teams Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's 10/11/12 4:30 PM Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther Truman 10/16/12 4:30 PM G-F-W G-F-W 10/25/12 4:00 PM Blue Earth Blue Earth 11/3/12 9:00 AM Northfield Northfield

saint peter

Date Time Opponent 9/25/12 4:00 PM New Prague 10/4/12 4:30 PM Fairmont 10/16/12 4:00 PM Multiple Teams

Location New Prague Fairmont Shoreland CC

sibley east

maple river

Date Time Opponent Location 10/4/12 4:30 PM SEPub/SEStMary/NUCath Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's 10/11/12 4:00 PM MRC Meet Norwood-Young America 10/16/12 4:00 PM Saint Peter Shoreland CC

Minnesota Valley Lutheran

Date Time Opponent 9/22/12 0:00 AM Milaca 9/25/12 0:00 AM Kingsland 10/4/12 4:30 PM Waseca 10/9/12 4:30 PM Multiple Teams 10/25/12 4:00 PM Blue Earth

Date Time Opponent Location 9/22/12 10:00 AM Milaca Milaca 9/27/12 4:30 PM WEM/JWP Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 10/11/12 4:30 PM Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther Madelia 10/16/12 4:00 PM Martin County West Martin County West 10/25/12 4:00 PM Blue Earth Blue Earth

Date Time Opponent Location 9/22/12 10:00 AM Milaca Milaca 9/25/12 4:30 PM Saint James Area Saint James 9/27/12 4:30 PM Redwood Valley Redwood Valley 10/4/12 4:30 PM SEPub/SEStMary/NUCath Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's 10/11/12 4:30 PM Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther Madelia 10/16/12 4:00 PM G-F-W G-F-W

UNITED SOUTH CENTRAL

waseca

Location Milaca Kingsland Waseca United South Central Blue Earth

Date Time Opponent Location 9/27/12 4:15 PM Zumbrota Mazeppa/K-W Zumbrota-Mazeppa 10/4/12 4:00 PM Multiple Teams Waseca 10/9/12 4:00 PM S.C.C. Conference Tourney Waseca 10/11/12 4:30 PM Fairmont Waseca 10/16/12 4:00 PM Saint Peter Saint Peter

2012

Page 21

Page 22

Fall

Mankato East brings in new, familiar head coach Eric Davis has seen been around the block a few times as a football coach but is finally back with Mankato East and looking to rebuild the future of the program.

RYAN LUND

staff writer

Mankato East head football coach Eric Davis knows a thing or two about Mankato football, but his experience extends far beyond the walls of East High School.

Davis has made stops at three different area football programs, dating back to his first stint at East back in 2003.

After departing in 2007 for a post at Minnesota State University, Mankato Davis returned to the high school game with crosstown rival Mankato West High School in 2011, before rejoining his former team for the 2012 campaign.

Now East’s veteran head coach returns, hoping to lead the up-and-coming Cougars to success in a conference dominated by crosstown foe Mankato West.

After consecutive doubledigit losses at the hands of Marshall, Faribault, and Rochester Mayo, Davis’ optimism hasn’t wavered.

“It’s tough,” he said prior to the team’s ill-fated contest in Rochester, “the first part of our schedule is definitely the toughest.”

The casual observer might look at games like East’s lopsided 40-9 loss to Faribault and scoff, but where some might see a dismal outing Davis sees plenty of positives.

“We had some very correctable things, things that we can fix,” he said, and digging a bit deeper reveals that Davis may be onto something.

East started off on the

wrong foot when an errant snap in the first half forced sophomore quarterback Nic Seiler, pinned deep within his own zone, to work, narrowly avoiding a safety on third down.

The play set up a short punt that landed Faribault on the East 37, and one sweep play away from the game’s first score.

The Falcons recovered a fumble on the ensuing East possession, driving down the field for a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Cougars however followed the turnover with a flash of their all-important potential midway through the second quarter, when Seiler lobbed a pass to top target Jordan Grams, who burned the Falcons defense for a 61-yard score.

Grams, a senior, has been the Cougars top target this season with 8 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.

The turning point however ultimately came just two possessions later, when a fumble from Falcons quarterback Danny Ehlers landed the Cougars just 10 yards away from a tie game.

The Falcons defense proved up to the task however, and East had to settle for a 21-yard field goal courtesy of senior Albert Podshivaylov.

Faribault would ultimately walk away with the victory, but Seiler’s 152 yards through the air left a sense of progress on the field.

Davis was quick to praise his young signal-caller.

“Obviously we’re expecting

it to pay dividends down the road,” he said of the decision to start Seiler in just his second year.

“He won the job and he’s off to a great start.”

Seiler’s development is supported by a versatile set of weapons that includes senior middle linebacker Lincoln Benzkofer, who led the Cougars a season ago with 87 tackles, along with a pair of interceptions.

Benzkofer’s defensive play earned him All-Big Nine Conference honors a season ago, but his play on the other side of the ball has earned the versatile defender plenty of snaps with the offense as well.

An intimidating presence in the backfield, the 6’0” senior is the Cougar’s leading returning rusher. Benzkofer rushed for 162 yards last season on just 28 snaps, averaging almost six yards per carry, and although his value on defense remains impressive, the veteran could see time at fullback and tight end as well.

Versatility and potential may be the order of the day at Wolverton Field, but with a match-up against recently upgraded Class 5A Mankato West looming on Oct. 17th, the Cougars will need to start realizing that promise in a hurry.

The going might be a little rough at Mankato East High School, but with sophomore Nic Seiler at the helm a bright future could be on the horizon for head coach Eric Davis and the Cougars.

Fresh faces take over MLC football squad for 2012

Martin Luther College struggled to say the least in 2011, but key recruits and transfers hope to give the Knights the boost they need for the new season.

TIGE HUTCHESON

staff writer

After a tough 2011 season for the Martin Luther College Knights football team, head coach Douglas Lange has lots of reasons for optimism.

“This season we began with a very good crop of new players from transfers to our school and from the high schools,” Lange said. “The new players brought with them not only much new and fresh talent, but in positions that we were sorely in need of as a team to go along with some of our proven veterans.

The Knights finished 2011 with a 2-8 record, placing them near the bottom of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

Martin Luther was devastated by injuries throughout the season, finishing the season with only 38 healthy players on a roster capable of holding 55, leaving a lingering feeling of a season that got away.

But that was 2011. The Knights are already off to a 1-1 start in 2012 and the replenished roster has never seemed deeper, especially on the defensive side of the football. “[Our defense has] really been playing some outstanding football so far,” Lange said.

Veteran leadership on defense begins with defensive back Benjamin Olson, an All-Conference safety that was forced to watch from the sidelines in 2011 due to a broken arm. Olson will

pair up with newcomer sophomore Galen Holzhueter with the responsibility of slowing down opponent’s aerial attacks.

Other key returners on defense include senior Justin Eternick, who made the move from defensive end to defensive tackle over the off-season and has recorded six tackles so far this season. The Knights also welcome back linebacker Paul Spaude and defensive end Doug Van Sice for their senior seasons, and will look to lean on those seniors especially early in the season.

On offense, perhaps the biggest key to success will be the developments of freshman

MLC football / page 28

photo courtesy of Sports Pix

2012

Scarlets off to fast start, hope to stay hot for the rest of 2012

Page 23

The Mankato West boy's soccer team performed in 2011, by they want more and are looking strong in their 2012 campaign.

JOEY DENTON

staff writer

photo courtesy of Sports Pix

Coming from a strong finish in the Mankato West boys soccer team’s 2011 campaign, the Scarlets want to take that momentum to the 2012 season, and so far so good.

“Last season we ended up playing pretty strong,” Head Coach Leonard Woelfel said.

The Scarlet’s postseason started off to a hot start defeating Willmar 5-3 in the Class ASection 2 Finals to get the sixth seed in the state tournament.

When it was state tournament time the team couldn’t pull out a victory in the first round 2-0 to St. Paul Academy.

“Unfortunately we just didn’t play as well as we could’ve that night and lost in the first round but overall we were very happy with how well we played over the course of the whole season,” senior forward Bill Leitch said.

The biggest concern for this Scarlets squad is the youth. It isn’t easy to come back after graduating eight seniors from a year ago, but they have made the best of it.

“We’re a very young team.

We lost almost all of our starting lineup to graduation from last year, but the young guys have really stepped up and played well,” Leitch said.

Coach Woelfel would agree.

“We are taking kids who are 7th through 12th and putting them together, and out of 18 kids on varsity, there are probably three or four that have played together,” Woelfel said.

In their first eight games of the season, the Scarelts stand with a 6-1-1 record, with their lone tie coming from a 0-0 match against there in-town rivalry Mankato East.

The Scarlets start the year off with the victories, defeating Willmar 3-1, Chanhassen 2-1 and Southwest Minnesota Chris-

Fogarty attempting to lead MSU back to the NCAA tournament Chelsea Fogarty returns to MSU in her senior year looking to prime the Mavericks and make her way into the record books.

TIM FAKLIS

staff writer

Another fall semester rolls around, and with that comes another year for head coach Dennis Amundson and the Minnesota Sate University, Mankato volleyball team that he and his coaching staff have managed to assemble for their 2012 campaign.

Finishing the 2011 season

at a 20-9 mark, and losing in the NCAA tournament to the Concordia Golden Bears, marking it the second straight time they have lost to the four-time national champs, the Mavericks come in ranked 20th overall in the American Volleyball Coaches Association, the Mavericks come into this season ranked fifth overall in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and 23rd in the national preseason rankings.

The Mavericks are one of five teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference ranked in the poll, joining Concordia (#1), Southwest Minnesota State (#6), Minnesota Duluth (T-7th) and Wayne State (#12).

They started the season with a 22-practice training camp that led up to the first day of classes for students on August 27th.

MSU volleyball / page 28

tian 3-1. Then after the East tie, the team cruised along defeating New Prague 8-0, Rochester Century 3-0 and Worthington 8-0.

Their only loss this season so far came from their Rochester John Marshall match, losing 2-0.

Looking at the scores, the defense from the Scarlets looks solid. They have only given up five goals in their first eight games.

“Our defense is very strong and that’s what we pride ourselves on at West, and we’ve been getting goals on the offensive side from tons of different players, which is always nice,” Leitch said.

While the team is still figuring out their identity, Leitch has created his own as one of the best scorers in Mankato West history. Currently he is at 36 goals in his career and only needs one more to tie the

previous career goals record and five points away from tying the career points record.

Coach Woelfels calls him “the big guy up front.”

One of the eight graduating seniors last season was their starting goalkeeper, so now there is a new guy in charge of the net, junior Sam Farley.

“He played JV last year, but he’s really stepped up and played well for us,” Leitch said.

The Scarlets will be spending a lot of time on the road as they only have one home game the rest of their regular season, and that game is their highly anticipated rematch against East on Sept. 22.

“We think we should’ve won that game so we’re looking forward to the next time we play them and pack the stands,” Leitch said.

Crystal Valley Supports Our Local Athletics

Page 24

Fall

Rough 2011 means change in head coach for Cougars

Mary Nelson enters her first year as head coach of the Mankato East volleyball team and knows that something has to change to get back in the winning style.

JOEY DENTON

staff writer

After a rough 2011 season, the Mankato East Volleyball program is planning on turning things around with a new faces grabbing on to the reins.

“This year is going to be different,” Head Coach Mary Nelson said.

That basically summed up the mentality of this year’s volleyball squad for not just this season, but seasons to come.

As she enters her first season as head coach for the Cougars, Mary Nelson knows that this program needs a change.

“I think we need to start building a tradition of playing better volleyball,” Nelson said.

Since she has been coaching volleyball since she was 17, she has learned what a volleyball team needs to be successful.

“We need to have good basic skills, but we need to be a team that is respected for our passing and our defense, because that’s the foundation of the game. If you don’t have that, you don’t play the game,” Nelson said.

Nelson, a Moorhead native was a part of the Mankato West staff last season as the Scarlets went 8-17-3. She went to school at Concordia College where she played on the volleyball team for two seasons in 2001 and 2002.

She has been coaching high school volleyball for eight years,

and this is her second year as a head coach.

Even though the team has only played nine games, the team has noticed differences in their program.

“She’s definitely changed our mentality,” junior middle hitter Taylor Karge said.

In their first nine games, the team has only posted one win, but Nelson has seen a lot of improvement in her team’s play.

According to Nelson, the team building their knowledge and play, and their understanding of the game is much better.

Thinking has been slowing them down.

“You have to play. You can’t stop and think, because if you do, you are already late,” Nelson said.

After witnessing a practice, this team is tall. According to Nelson there are four players over six feet tall. They are good players, but it’s hard for the team to be successful if they can’t get the ball to them.

“They can hit, but we need to put up a ball for them,” Nelson said. “You need to be able to pass in order to play.”

Along with Karge, junior outside hitter Claire Ziegler, senior defensive specialist Katy Snyder and freshman outside hitter Allison Taylor have been Nelson’s building block for this program because they have the “desire to be better and a good leadership

photo courtesy of Sports Pix for our team.”

This team has to take every game seriously, but there are some games that Nelson has been looking forward to.

Owatonna, Rochester Mayo, and Faribault have gotten her attention.

Always better the third time around

Mankato Loyola volleyball head coach Kali Gosch enters her third season at the helm of the Crusaders who are looking to send the program up.

TIM FAKLIS

staff writer

Change can be tough, especially on high school students. In such a short period in one’s life, athletics is often the one safe-haven for students to go and see some form of consistency.

For the most part, that has been the case at Loyola Catholic High School in Mankato.

That is until a change in their volleyball team came into play, and they brought in new head coach Kali Gosch.

“They were in a tough position before I got hired, having new head coaches with new concepts being instilled for many years,” Gosch said.

“When I came, I was another head coach with an entirely

new concept brought to the table.”

Since then, Gosch has been able to make things right again at Loyola for all of her players on the Crusaders squad, and she couldn’t be more proud.

“I have had a lot of respect for my past teams.” Gosch said. “They had faith, drive and courage in themselves and me. This makes for incredible team that goes from one win our 1st year to seven wins our 2nd year.”

That level of improvement is something that every sports fan wants to see and something every coach prays for.

The Crusders are led by four seniors: Olivia Zwaschka, Maddie McCargar, Mary Pfau and Kelcie Parsons,

who is just coming off a back injury and as Gosch puts it, “shows others how to have the courage not to give up.”

As Gosch said, they are coming from a one-win season to a seven win season. With a set of seniors that have now worked with the same coaching staff for a full two years and with an expectation now to continue growing and building, a sort of standard has to be set by the coaching staff.

“I have high standards for each player and coach. We all need to be held accountable in the gym as well as outside the gym,” Gosch said.

“On the court we each have a job to do and are responsible

East volleyball / page 28

“Any team that has a good tradition, you know you are going to get some good competition” To Karge, this is just the start of their improved program.

“We definitely have potential. We just need to step it up

as a team. Right now, we are just starting to click and come together,” Karge said.

The always highly anticipated West and East rivalry game will be played at Mankato East this season Oct. 9 at 7:15 pm.

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2012

Page 25

Mankato East takes a few false steps before getting back in the right direction

The Cougar boy's soccer team started the season a little off but are strarting to find the groove and hope to get back to the state tournament.

JOEY DENTON

photo courtesy of Sports Pix

staff writer It was a slow start for the Mankato East boy’s soccer team this season, but they have come on strong and plan on keeping it that way the rest of the way.

“We started off a little slow at the beginning, but we started to gel and work as a unit,” Head Coach Jerrad Aspelund said. “We have a lot of hard workers on the team.”

MSU student and Cougars assistant coach Jordan Yess would agree.

“The team has been very up and down, but lately they have been starting to get in to a rhythm,” Yess said.

The Cougars are 4-3-1 in their first eight games of the season with a slow start, but they have come off a few good games defeating Fairmont 3-1 and Austin 3-2. Their one tie came from a hard fought game against their in town rivals, the Mankato West Scarlets.

“It was a good game,” junior midfielder Ahmeday Hassan said.

“It was physical; there was a lot of pushing out there. I think both teams were trying to get away with as much as they can.”

With only 14 shots on goal, East had nine and West had five, it wasn’t a busy day for both goalkeepers. The closest shot to score was in the second overtime when senior forward Mohamud Ahmed took a shot from the left side from 15 yards-out where West’s goalkeeper made a tremendous stop.

To coach Aspelund, the team’s kryptonite is when adversity comes around.

“If we see adversity, we aren’t very good. But that has gotten

Women's soccer coach takes on multiple roles at MLC

better the last two, three games,” Aspelund said.

The team did see adversity in some of their first few matches this season. To start the year, East conquered New Prague 7-1 before going up against Apple Valley.

Apple Valley defeated the Cougars 5-0.

“That was a test to see where we are at as a team and program,” Aspelund said.

The cougars came home for a three-game home stand defeating Saint Peter 3-1 and then losing to Winona 6-3 and the rival game tie against West 0-0.

After losing to Rochester John Marshall 1-0, Fairmont and Austin came to town and coach Yess noticed a lot of improvement.

“They were very critical of each other and were not working well as a team. The effort was not there. As of late they have found their game and are trusting each other more and playing really

well,” Yess said.

Two key players to be looking at this season are senior midfielder Mohamud Ahmed and freshman midfielder Ben Schwartz.

Schwartz is leading the team with 10 goals this season and as a freshman to find the net that much is quite impressive.

There are three chosen captains for Aspelund’s team this season: senior defenders Nick Dahman and Ahmed Sugulle and senior midfielder Ashraf Osman.

The Cougars have a big test coming up as they take on a 6A opponent, Holy Family Catholic, which will be a challenge.

Some of the key upcoming matches are some Big nine rivalries such as Rochester Mayo on Sept. 20, an East and West rematch on Sept. 22 at Mankato West and a nonconference match against Rochester Lourdes at home.

Best wishes to all

area sports teams from

Jeffrey Schone has quite the workload at Martin Luther College, but his top priority is getting the Knights women's soccer team back on track.

TIM FAKLIS

staff writer

Professor of religion, Vice President for student life and head women’s soccer coach.

That’s Jeffrey Schone for you.

Taking on three jobs at once for some people may seem like a lot, but ever since Coach Schone took over the women’s soccer program at Martin Luther College in 2010, that has been his job situation in a nutshell.

This season is slated with high hopes for the MLC Knights, a team that didn’t do quite what they wanted in the win column a year ago, finishing at a disappointing 4-7-1 mark in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and 8-8-1 in their overall standings. They were

led by senior at the time Hannah Janke, who led the Knights in goals, as well as Bethany Schultz, who heads into her junior year this year. She tied Janke in goals and also led her team in a four-way tie for leader in the assist category.

Janke has graduated, and thus is obviously no longer with the team, but Schultz is only a junior. Considering her success a year ago, a similar, or even a better year from her seems to be the logical next step for her in the athletic development with the Knights.

What makes things interesting for the Knights is the loss of their goalkeeper Allison Snyder.

A year ago, Snyder started 16 games for the Knights, and finished with a .800 save

percentage, and gave up only 23 goals for the season. Replacing her will likely be between one of Katelyn Malley or Kelly Keese, both of whom are coming into their sophomore seasons for Martin Luther College this year.

Head coach Jeff Schone was given the job back in 2010, and had spent the three seasons prior to that as an assistant under their previous head coach. He also coached at the youth level, helping two under-15 teams to the Minnesota state tournament.

Soccer isn’t the only sport he has helped Martin Luther College with in his past; prior to working with the soccer team, he served as head coach of the golf team at MLC for five seasons.

MLC soccer / page 28

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Page 26

Fall

Gusties planning to move up the ladder in the MIAC The Gustavus Adolphus volleyball team went from 12th in the conference to fifth from 2010 to 2011.

Only time will tell if they can leap higher in the standings by the end of 2012.

JOEY DENTON

photo courtesy of Sports Pix

staff writer With last season attempt at turning the program around, the Gustavus Adolphus Volleyball team plans on taking that success and momentum into their 2012 campaign.

In the 2010 season, the squad finished 7-19 and 12th in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 1-10 conference record. Then coming back to play in 2011, the squad jumped up seven spots in the standings and finished 5th in the conference with a 20-10 overall record and a 7-4 conference record.

“Last year we had a good turnaround from the year before,” Head Coach Rachelle Dosch said.

Coach Dosch is entering her 3rd season as head coach for the Gustie volleyball team. Before taking the job at Gustavus, Dosch spent three seasons assistant coaching for Winona State University and Luther College.

By looking at the roster, you can see the team is very young, but you underestimate the talent that just joined the squad.

Freshman outside hitter Becca Woodstra graduated from Hopkins High Shool and

she is someone to watch for this season.

Another freshman to look for is middle hitter Kelle Nett from Spring Valley, Ill. She graduated from Hall High School.

On the Gusties opening day roster you would only find three seniors, middle hitter Emily Phillips, defensive specialists Lisa Beacher and Erin Sherman.

In 2011, Phillips finished the season with 301 kills, averaging 2.79 kills per set and was successful on 25 percent of her kill attempts.

Sherman played in 25 sets last season tallying 77 digs and had a 92 percent reception percentage. This season she already has four assists in the 19 sets she’s played.

Beacher has played in 37 sets and has recorded 52 digs.

The team opened up their 2012 campaign, winning their first two matches, one against Wheaton College 3-2 and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 3-1.

With even more momentum, the Gusties headed to our neighbor state Wisconsin to participate in the UW-Whitewater Invitational and went undefeated in four matches including victories over Wheaton, UW-

Oshkosh and Central College.

At 6-0, the squad has hit some rocky roads going 6-7 the next 13 matches with a 2-2 showing at the Augsburg College Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn.

So far in their first 19 games, Woodstra is leading the attack with 92 kills and a 25 percent kill success. Next to her is Phillips with 90 kills and a 24 percent kill success in 36 sets.

Defensively, sophomore setter Kendra Weege is leading the way with 214 assists and averaging 5.94 assists per set while sophomore outside hitter Emily Gilman leads the team in total blocks with 29 in 37 sets.

Also, Nett joins her with seven solo blocks as she herself has 26 total blocks.

Gustavus is right in the middle of their season and have a few games circled on their calendar in the upcoming future.

On September 29th, coach Dosch will be taking on her former teammate and coworker Jane Becker, Augsburg’s head coach, as the Gusties battle Augsburg.

On October 5th the Gusties travel south to Waverly, Iowa to Simpson College for the Wartburg Tournament.

2012

Page 27

West juniors provide dynamite duo for the Scarlets Molly Lohman and Megan Hulscher are out of their underclassmen phase of their volleyball play and are ready to take the Big 9 conference by storm.

ADAM KRIESEL

staff writer

The Mankato West volleyball team looks to improve following a 2011 season when they finished 10-18-1.

Leading the charge for the Scarlets this year will be a pair of juniors, middle hitter Molly Lohman and outside hitter Megan Hulscher. Young and inexperienced a year ago, the 2012 roster is loaded with upperclassmen ready to make a run at the Big 9 conference title.

“I think this team will definitely improve from last year,” head coach Sarah Kirby said.

“We have a lot of key returners who are ready to lead this team.”

The Scarlets got off to a strong start this season, taking third place in the Mankato West Invite held Sept. 8 at the Minnesota State University, Mankato Taylor Center. They had hoped to carry that momentum into the conference schedule but a tough first few matches ended their streak.

They currently stand at 4-6 overall, and 0-3 in the conference.

West has opened the conference season by losing their

first three matches to Winona, Owatonna and Rochester John Marshall. All three of those opponents are sitting atop the conference standings with undefeated records and are all expected to remain near the top all season.

Despite the recent struggles, Kirby expects her squad to be right there with them when it is all said and done.

“Owatonna is always tough, and the Rochester teams are usually pretty good,” Kirby said. “But I don’t see why we can’t contend with those teams this year.”

Despite losing to Owatonna, the Scarlets pushed the match to five sets before losing a heartbreaker. All three sets won by Owatonna were by two points, evidence that it could have gone either way. If there was ever such a thing as a good loss, this was it. If this team was within a few plays of taking down a conference powerhouse, they have the ability to beat anyone in the Big 9 this season.

If the Scarlets want this to happen, however, Lohman and Hulscher will need to continue to lead the way. So far this year, the duo rank one

and two on the team in both kills and blocks. According to mnvolleyballhub.com, Lohman has 56 kills through 10 games, while Hulscher has 34.

Lohman has 17 solo blocks to go along with Hulscher’s nine.

According to Kirby, another strong area on this team is the defense, led by junior libero Abby Leitch.

“Defense should be one of our biggest improvements,” Kirby said. “And [Leltch] is a big reason why.”

Leitch has done her part this year by contributing 63 digs.

Although the current record may not scream improvement, the Scarlets’ schedule should get easier from here on out. Their next three conference opponents-Austin, Rochester Century and Albert Lea are all winless in the Big 9 thus far.

This could help the Scarlets quickly rise in the standings and put them back in contention. 2012 has seen some rough patches up to this point, but it appears the hard part of the season has passed.

Now it’s time to find the win column start their climb in the standings.

photo courtesy of Sports Pix

Page 28

Fall

MSU volleyball continued from 23 The warranting of the rankings comes from some of the players returning from a year ago, led by All Conference member Chelsea Fogerty. Fogarty, a senior outside hitter from Belle Plaine, Minn., earned AVCA All-Central Region Honorable Mention honors after leading the Mavericks in 2011 with 448 kills. Fogarty is now 8th on the all-time career kills list, as she became the ninth Maverick to reach 1,000 career hits.

She has averaged 382 kills throughout her first three years as a Maverick. Finishing third on the team last year with 362 digs (3.23 per set), Fogarty has recorded 852 in her career remaining 148 away from becoming the ninth Maverick to join the school’s 1,000 digs club.

Alongside Fogarty are seniors

Courteney Steinhauser, Kayla Berning, Jill Storlie, and Samantha Dale.

The Mavericks will start the year on the road at the Cal State Monterey Bay Otter Classic Volleyball Tournament in Monterey Bay, Cali. where MSU will face four different opponents to begin their campaign. They will start their slate of games against Maryville (Mo.) on Friday, August 31st. Their remaining three matches come against Alaska Anchorage later that day, before two games on Saturday against CSU Monterey Bay and Academy of the Arts.

For Mavericks fans that are waiting to see a home game, they will have to wait until September 14th, when they play a new member of the NSIC in the University of Sioux Falls Cougars, that will begin a set of

three home games on campus, all within a seven day period.

Coach Amundson, coming into his eighth season as the MSU head coach, also managed to bring in a plethora of freshmen, seven to be exact. With that many new faces coming into the mix for MSU it is very likely that most, it not all, of the young, new faces of the Maverick volleyball squad will get plenty of opportunity to make their way into the lineup.

The NSIC is a tough conference to play in, but the Mavericks have proven time and time again that they belong in the top half of the standings. With their combination of veteran leadership, along with new faces, the 2012 is stacked with possibilities.

MLC soccer continued from 25

“Taking the reins of our women’s soccer program will prove to be quite a challenge,” Schone said when he took the job three years ago, “But one that is certain to bring rewards. I am grateful for the opportunity to help our players work together and reach their individual and team goals.”

To this point, he has seen some steady improvement, and hopes to see that continue. When a goalkeeper spot opens up, it is something that a coach needs to address on an almost-immediate basis.

There are plenty of good candidates on this roster, and

with proper leadership, that shouldn’t be a problem. The assumed continued growth of the MLC Knights will rely on the likes of coach Schone, Bethany Schultz and the rest of the team.

There is no team sport quite like soccer. No sport is played on a larger field, and communication is absolutely vital. Whether the Martin Luther College Knights are willing and ready to fully utilize the team concept is something that remains to be seen at this point.

East volleyball continued from 24

for giving our 100%, whether that is offensively, defensively, or communication on and off the bench.

Outside the gym we need to continue to be accountable.

Being proud of who we are as individuals as well as a team will and does affect our game.”

The Loyola Crusaders are led by power hitters Olivia Zwaschka, Kelcie Parsons and Jordyn Strachan along with Mary Pfau, Jordyn Theuninck and Maddie McCargar, this group is poised to make their names household across the state in the world of volleyball. Coach Gosch agrees.

“With three years of putting up with me, I feel the Crusaders are ready to play with the conference. I see a fire in each player, a desire to take a match and produce a great outcome," Gosch said.

"Each year is an opportunity to be that team who plays in the State Championship match. Each year it is our hopes to make it one game closer to that match.”

With an attitude like that, and the improvement the Crusaders have shown over the years, those expectations seem well within the realm of reason.

Have a healthy, successful fall season!

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MLC football continued from 22

the developments of freshman quarterback Matt Olson.

Olson led St. Croix Lutheran High School to a class AAA Minnesota State Championship and an undefeated season in 2011, and was penciled in as the Knights’ starter from Week one and has yet to throw an interception.

While developing into a starting quarterback as a freshman can be a difficult process, Olson does have enough weapons around him to help ease the transition.

Senior running backs Mark Voss and Tyler Dorn will give

the Knights plenty of variation to work with in their running game. The receiving corps is led by senior Scott Henrich and junior Micah Plocher, while sophomore tight end Trent Tatje will also look to be a major factor both as a receive and a blocker.

Olson will be protected by a very solid and reliable offensive line, led by twotime All-Conference blocker Eric Duve and filled in with a good group of returning players such as junior tackle Dyllan Jensen and sophomore center/offensive tackle Seth

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Despite coming off such a disappointing season in 2011, expectations are already quite high in 2012.

“Our expectations are quite high due to the nice talent and athletic ability of our team overall,” Lange said. “Our defense can keep us in every game with their stinginess, and as soon as our offense gels, we will be competitive in each and every game.”

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2012

Page 29

Photos of the fall

The Maple River volleyball team has definetely shown improvement from last season's 7-18-1 mark. The Eagles were off to a quick start in their season until a bump in the road knocked them to their current record of 4-5-3.

The St. Peter boy's soccer team is 7-3 on the season after big wins against Marshall and New Prague.

The Saints will get a true test later in the month when they travel to Mankato to take on West High School who is currently ranked #6 in class A.

Photos courtesy of SportPix

The St. Clair volleyball team knows their record stands at 2-6-2 early in the season, but the Cyclones also know how much of the season is left and that there is plenty of time for not just improvement to get back into the thick of things in the Valley Conference.

The Cleveland High School Football team is off to agreat start in their 2012 season. The clippers are 3-0 with big wins over Fulda and Alden Conger before winning a tight one against Janesville-WaldorfPemberton 38-26.

Cleveland has five more games in the season which include two against ranked teams in nine-man football.

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Fall

Photos of the fall

The Nicollet High School football team is a perennial powerhouse in the nine-man world and this year seems no different for the Raiders as they are 3-0 rated #8 in the state.

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2012

Page 31

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Fall 2012